Photo taken on Dec 30, 2014 shows Chinese rescue vessel Nanhaijiu 101 berthed in a port of Haikou, capital of south China’s Hainan province. China announced on Dec 29, 2014 that it will send aircraft and vessel to join the search and rescue work for missing AirAsia flight QZ8501. By far, a navy frigate on routine patrol in the South China Sea is heading for the waters where the jet went missing. Besides, Chinese patrol ship Haixun 31, rescue vessel Nanhaijiu 101 and Nanhaijiu 115 are also standing by.[Photo/Xinhua]
File photo taken on March, 2014 shows Chinese rescue vessel Nanhaijiu 115 on South China Sea. [Photo/Xinhua]
File photo taken on March, 2014 shows Chinese rescue vessel Nanhaijiu 101 on South China Sea.[Photo/Xinhua]
BEIJING — China announced on Dec 29 that it will send aircraft and vessel to join the search and rescue work for missing AirAsia flight QZ8501.
“After consultations with the Indonesian government, the Chinese government has decided to send aircraft and vessel to search for the missing AirAsia flight,” the defense ministry said in a statement released on the night of Dec 29.
A navy frigate on routine patrol in the South China Sea is heading for the waters where the jet went missing, the statement said.
An Air Force jet is making preparations and coordinating with the countries on the flight route, the statement said.
Earlier, an Indonesian official told the media that the missing jet with 162 people on board was believed to have sunken into the bottom of the sea.
Should the projection be true, Indonesia needed to cooperate with other countries to bring the wreckage to the surface, said Bambang Sulistyo, head of the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas).
